Speaker Bios
Dewey Cornell, PhD., University of Virginia  
Dewey G. Cornell, Ph.D. is a forensic clinical psychologist and Professor of Education in the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Virginia. He holds the Virgil Ward Chair in Education. Dr. Cornell is Director of the UVA Virginia Youth Violence Project and a faculty associate of Institute of Law, Psychiatry, and Public Policy. During his clinical and academic career, Dr. Cornell has worked with juvenile and adult violent offenders, testified in criminal proceedings and legislative hearings, and consulted on violence prevention efforts. He has authored more than 200 publications in psychology and education, including studies of juvenile homicide, school safety, bullying, and threat assessment. He is the principal author of the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines, which is an evidence-based model of school threat assessment used in schools across the United States and Canada. He also led the development of the Authoritative School Climate Survey as a student and staff measure of school climate and safety conditions. He is currently directing studies of school climate and school threat assessment with funding from the U. S. Department of Justice.  A major emphasis in his work is the elimination of racial inequities in school discipline and educational outcomes.

Lia Gil, MS, CCMP, CHES

Lia is Darkness to Lights’ Director of Social and Behavior Change. In this role she and her team use evidence informed programs and innovative tools to create culturally relevant and comprehensive child protection programs. By addressing the individual and societal factors that transform human behavior, the SBC team helps organizations and communities to take action and create healthy social norms.  Lia has degrees in Health Promotion and Communications.